BioCentury
ARTICLE | Clinical News

StemCells gains on interim AMD data

June 20, 2014 1:21 AM UTC

StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ:STEM) presented interim data from seven evaluable patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treated with its human neural stem cells (HuCNS-SC) cells. The purified human neural stem cells led to a 65% reduction in the rate of geographic atrophy in the treated eye compared to the expected natural history of the disease in the patients -- the first cohort of an open-label, dose-escalation, U.S. Phase I/II trial. Additionally, HuCNS-SC cells led to a 70% reduction in the rate of geographic atrophy compared to the untreated control eye. The cells were well tolerated, with conjunctival hyperemia, eye pain and retinal hemorrhage the most common adverse events.

Four patients received 200,000 stem cells and four received 1 million stem cells administered by a single injection into the subretinal space of the most affected eye. StemCells said the interim analysis was based on a minimum follow-up of at least six months. Data were presented at the International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting in Vancouver. ...